A new lease of life
by Addy01
Summary: With the passing of Advisor Suzuki Jirokichi, Lupin (the dog) was left alone, depressed and on a one-way street to being put to sleep. Thank goodness there's a kind-hearted detective and a soft-hearted phantom thief to the rescue. For Poirot Café's themed contest #25: Space. Beta'd by the awesome Semi-Retired Writer! One-shot (implied established kaishin if you squint)


A new lease of life

By Addy01

Summary: With the passing of Advisor Suzuki Jirokichi, Lupin (the dog) was left alone, depressed and on a one-way street to being put to sleep. Thank goodness there's a kind-hearted detective and a soft-hearted phantom thief to the rescue. For Poirot Café's themed contest #25: Space. Beta'd by the awesome Semi-Retired Writer! One-shot

On that note: Adopt, don't shop!

Enjoy!

* * *

No one expected this to be the way the gallant Advisor Suzuki Jirokichi to go.

They had all expected him to pass away while going head to head with the international criminal Kaitou KID; or saving a damsel in distress from a burning building; or rescuing a child from drowning in a raging flood water, right before plummeting hundreds of feet down a waterfall; or in an attempt to break another Guinness World Record.

Or at least, that was what he wrote in his memoir. His last dying wish.

In the end, it was a simple car crash that took his life away.

The other driver had been drinking and driving and hadn't stopped when the traffic light turned red. With the old man on his motorcycle, there was nothing shielding him from the impact of two tons' worth of SUV.

He never stood a chance.

The death was instantaneous. So at least he hadn't suffered much in those last few agonising seconds of his life.

Kudo Shinichi and Kuroba Kaito stood still as they watched the funeral proceedings. They had been invited as the last few people who had worked with the advisor near the end.

Shinichi had become the Kaitou KID's newest and most 'dedicated' hunter, after Edogawa Conan disappeared from public view, presumably returning to America to be with his parents. The advisor had coerced the then-newly-returned detective to join him in his schemes to catch the elusive thief once Shinichi had unknowingly proven his worth on a particular heist orchestrated by the advisor himself.

As for Kaito, after learning of the existence of the reputable, up and coming magician, the advisor had invited Kaito whenever he could, seeing as the magician had been providing useful consultations for Tokyo Metropolitan Police Division Two on a number of occasions. It was a coincidence really, that both men were great friends and housemates as well.

They stood there in silence, solemn while considering how suddenly death had snatched such an exuberant man away. Shinichi had admired his zeal for life and eternal optimism, no matter his eccentricities. Despite not being close, he still felt a wave of sadness sweep over him when the news reached his ears.

A sudden warmth pressing on the side of his right leg brought Shinichi out of his musing. The familiar pressure came up to his knee, and despite the starch on the fabric of his pants, he could make out the distinct furry texture of a short-haired canine.

Lupin, it seemed, had managed to track them down in the sea of thousands who came to pay their respects to the late Suzuki advisor. It was a first for Shinichi, to see the dog's tail down in a slump instead of the enthusiastic wagging that he usually sported. Moreover, his ears were flopped, head was hunched and tail was tugged underneath his body - a clear sign of his sorrow at the sudden death of his master.

After brushing against Shinichi's leg, Lupin positioned himself in front of both Shinichi and Kaito before lying down on their feet, taking comfort from the two people who had rescued him from the cold, dark and impenetrable safe known as the Iron Tanuki.

* * *

"You know, that's the first time we've seen him react to anyone after Jirokichi-ojisama's death."

"Huh?" The abrupt comment had Shinichi and Kaito turning to face Sonoko in bewilderment. Last they checked, the heiress was conversing with Ran just seconds ago, with distinct streaks on her face that were left behind from her earlier waterworks, a path forming on the thin layer of makeup that had been haphazardly plastered on in the morning.

Lupin had left them not long ago, making his way to glare and growl at the priest whom he deemed to have been responsible for the cremation to occur in the first place.

"Coming up and snuggling beside you guys. That's the first time we have seen him react to anything or anyone positively." Sonoko repeated herself. "The staff were saying that he hadn't eaten or drank much, which isn't good, since he had just came out of surgery. Also, Lupin's getting increasingly aggressive with anyone who tries to get close. We did everything we could but he's just being uncooperative."

Sonoko wasn't someone who'd beat around the bush if the situation allowed for it, so it wasn't much of a surprise when she immediately launched into her request.

"Anyway, we were wondering if you guys could adopt him?"

"What?!" that was the last thing they expected from her. They weren't that close to the advisor. Surely there was someone else more suitable?

"This is the most animated he's been since Jirokichi-ojisama's death," Sonoko continued when they hadn't reacted to her. "So maybe it'll be a good idea if he's with someone he's more comfortable with. And you two are definitely his favourite people after ojisama. God knows no one else could make Lupin do anything he doesn't want to."

"We're not sure if that's a good idea, Sonoko." Shinichi managed to sputter out. "I mean, we just adopted a kitten last week…"

"Just give it shot, please? Lupin's not young anymore. Even if we did put him up for adoption, there won't be anyone else who would want to adopt him, especially since he's gotten more difficult to handle recently."

Shinichi exchanged glances with Kaito, silently communicating to Kaito that his bleeding heart had already made its decision for him as he listened to Lupin's plight. After all, it was his soft-heartedness that had landed them with Midori just last week.

(Shoot, how did that happen? Even Haibara, for all her love for animals, hadn't caved in to adopt one pet, let alone two in the span of a week. He hadn't cared much about other peoples' pets before he got shrunk. But it seemed that his 'experience' had opened up a wave of empathy he never thought he'd possessed, he just couldn't resist those sad, lonely eyes when there's something he could do about it - he was surprised to find that out about himself.)

With a small nod from Kaito, Shinichi turn to Sonoko and said, "Alright Sonoko, we'll do it."

* * *

Taking care of a new dog in a new environment was hard enough as it was. But a grieving dog on top of that?

It brought a new meaning to the word 'Challenge'.

Shinichi and Kaito had planned to bring Lupin back to their little two-bedroom abode a few days after that agreement, taking those few days to dog-proof the house; and to seek permission from the building manager to allow for another pet to stay in their apartment.

(The apartment was cheap enough for Shinichi's parents to justify purchasing it, rather than renting, and it was a mere five minutes' walk to Touto University, and naturally, Kaito had taken advantage of it by inviting himself to bunk in the spare room available. Shinichi, who'd gotten used to living with someone, hadn't protested - though he did put the thief in a wringer for not informing him in the first place, and had gotten a shock to find the spare room magically filled with Kaito's stuff on that day.)

The building manager, a disagreeable old woman with too much time on her hands, had turned her head rather sharply upon hearing the request - so much that her glasses had slid down to the tip of her nose with the force of her turn. She pushed her glasses back on before eyeing them as if they hadn't had any common sense in the two heads between them.

A cat AND a dog? Don't come to her if the neighbours started complaining, she warned. 'It'll have to be either you or the pets out of this building if I receive a single complaint.' She wagged her finger at them in show of the severity of her warning before chasing them out of her apartment. (With how short she was at them, her favourite drama was probably just about to start. Shinichi filed that tidbit away for future reference.)

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse on the day they went to pick Lupin up.

Being the smart dog he was, Lupin had put two and two together - between Shinichi's and Kaito's daily visits and having all his stuff packed at the hallway - and made a dash to his old master's room, hiding under the bed.

It took an hour for them to coerce Lupin out of the bedroom and out of the house, and another half an hour unsuccessfully getting him into the car before giving up (the poor boy had been in that accident as well and was naturally traumatised). They put him on the harness and the leash and started a short trek to their apartment, with them taking turns carrying a few of Lupin's necessities, leaving the rest behind to be collected another day.

And of course, as Murphy's law would have it, the rain came pouring half way through their journey home.

They were exhausted, drenched and freezing when Lupin took a wary step into the apartment. Once they arrived at their door step, Kaito took the leash off the harness, letting Lupin take a tentative sniff of the air. Then, the dog put his nose to the ground, seemingly taking in every scent from every inch of the house, making his way into the living room. He took a whiff at Midori the Scottish Fold Kitten snoozing by the window sill before giving a disapproving snort and continued to survey of the rest of the house with his nose.

Finally satisfied, but seemingly disgruntle at his new accommodation - probably used to the vast space of the Suzuki mansion, Lupin went up to his pile of stuff. He rummaged through the bulky lot with his head before pulling out his bed with his mouth, dragging it over to one corner of the living room - shrugging off all towels and attempts to dry him off - and collapsing onto his bed, sleeping the rest of the day away.

* * *

In retrospect, even their extensive research hadn't prepared them for what was to come.

The walk back and the rain had aggravated Lupin's wounds that he'd received from the accident, even though they were mostly healed, and Lupin had become rather difficult as the days went by.

After marking his territory via excessive urinary excretion, Lupin had rejected all attempts by Kaito and Shinichi to approach him with a showcase of his sharp teeth. Other than that, he remained quiet in his self-imposed corner, obviously still depressed with what had transpired.

It was a stark contrast to the open, bubbly personality he once possessed. The lack of progress to his mental and physical health worried Shinichi.

"Do you think we should have left him with the Suzukis?" Shinichi blurted out one day during dinner while streaming Detective Samonji from his laptop. "Lupin isn't getting any better with us."

"No. Better than him being put to sleep, I reckon. Suzuki-chan did say that they were planning to put him down because no one in the staff or in the family knew how to handle him."

"Maybe...but I just can't help but think back to that day when we brought home..." Shinichi hunched over his dinner, play around with the floating chunks of vegetable in the bowl of noodle soup, his waning appetite evaporating as the guilt set in.

"Hey, chin up Shinichi." Kaito extended his hand across the narrow two-sitter study table that's been converted into a dining table, lightly titling the detective's chin up to make sure Shinichi was making eye contact. To make the detective believe in the conviction he had with what he's about to say next.

"I am sure things will be better soon. For all you know, all he needs is a little time and space to get used to us."

* * *

Despite Kaito's words, it continued to be slow progress with Lupin. He began to eat a little more and his physical wounds had all healed nicely, so there were a couple less things for them to worry about. Lupin had also taken to tolerating Midori's presence, letting the kitten climb all over him for about five minutes before shooing her away - not that it deterred the persistent kitten, as she continued approaching the elderly dog with zealous determination that had more to do with ignorance and boredom more than anything else.

However, nothing else had changed.

Shinichi continued to contemplate of the situation as he took Lupin out for his daily walk - Kaito, unfortunately, was stuck in his least favourite lecture where attendance was compulsory. His mind was occupied with the persisting matter as the two of them took the usual route to the park.

Both he and Kaito were at their wits end, all the advice that they received wasn't working. If things didn't get better, they would have to look into getting a dog psychologist, if there even was such a thing...

"Thief!"

Before Shinichi could even register the shout, Lupin surged forward, pursuing the rapidly retreating culprit with such speed that he caught up with the thief in five big strides. He took a huge leap and lunged at the thief from the back, pushing him onto the ground with such force that it was sure to leave bruises - and maybe a concussion.

The first thing Shinichi noticed when he arrived at the scene, was how Lupin's tail was wagging vigorously - clearly elated and proud at catching the culprit with such success.

For the first time in six months, his tail was not slumping down or swaying in dejection.

As Shinichi bent down to give Lupin an ear rub, he couldn't help but feel hope blooming within him.

 _Maybe time and space weren't what Lupin needed._

 _Maybe...maybe there was something he could do to help after all._

* * *

A five-inch-thick hard cover book slammed onto the dining table, shocking Kaito out of the intricate robotics work he had been laboriously working on. He made a quick grab for the miniature screws as they roll off the table - it wouldn't do for the pets to accidentally eat them up thinking that they were treats.

Kaito's right eye was twitching in irritation, and he had turned to give a hard glare towards Shinichi before his eyes settled on the gigantic book, his eyes bulged at the sight of the all too familiar volume.

"What are you doing with that fly swatter?" hesitation laced his voice as he looked warily at the late advisor Suzuki's memoir with trepidation – he didn't like where this was going.

"Well, Lupin was really happy about catching the purse snatcher today," Shinichi explained, ignoring the 'fly swatter' comment - he's used to Kaito's penchant of nicknaming things. "I thought I'd find out what else he likes to do. And maybe if we can get him to be more active and excited about something instead of moping around the house..."

A soft kitty 'Meow' caught their attention, and they turned around to see Lupin holding Midori by the scruff of the neck, narrowly preventing her from falling into the kitchen sink. Kaito smirked at the sight.

"...And I'll see if Lupin likes babysitting too? We could earn a few quick bucks if we can hire him out~...Oi! Stop that!" On reflex, Shinichi took to swatting Kaito on the head with the 'fly swatter'. Not too hard though, because he still needed the thief to help pay for expenses - pet food's expensive here in Tokyo.

* * *

"Kaito… Where are you and Lupin…? It's one in the morning." Shinichi had just come back home from an especially draining case and found the apartment void of its usual occupants, other than Midori – who was growing horizontally at an alarming rate – who was making herself comfortable inside a cardboard box that was far too small for her.

"Recon." Kaito breathed out so softly that Shinichi had to strain his ear despite the phone being on the highest volume.

"Recon? … As in reconnaissance? What?! Why? There isn't any news on gems that fit the Pandora's description recently."

"No, I'm actually at the warehouse by the port. Investigating a couple of shipments that came in trying to pass for ancient Vietnamese porcelain artifacts that are going to be showcased in the history museum next month…I heard from the rumour mill that they are fakes and they might be using them to import drugs – cocaine specifically."

After they brought the syndicate down to their knees, Kaito had redirected his night time career towards exposing counterfeits and frauds - the initial purpose behind Phantom Lady's existence - when he wasn't searching for the mythical Pandora. Not that Shinichi approved, but with what he'd learnt about Kaito and what they'd gone through together, it was one of the few things he had come to accept about his housemate - so long as he didn't keep any of his loot and continued to assist the police in his roundabout manner.

"….and you thought it's a good idea to bring Lupin along to sniff out the drug. Kaito! I know he is a Basset mix, but he's not trained as a sniffer dog."

"He is actually."

"What?"

"Page 458 of that fly swatter." Katio quipped. "Lupin assisted in a few drug busts in various countries in the South East Asia region. So ya, Lupin's trained alright."

"You read the book?" Shinichi was more distracted by the fact that Kaito even went near enough to touch the book to begin with. He'd seen the twitch in Kaito's eye when the book was first launched.

"Sure did. In Yamamoto-sensei's Criminal History lecture. He's a bore, and I am not going to waste my time listening to his historically incorrect lectures."

"That's a matter of opinion Kaito," Shinchi sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. It was an old argument and he was getting side-tracked. "Anyway, get back here. Lupin's quite recognisable, you'll get caught once they catch sight of him."

"Relax, I got that covered. Turn on your video chat."

"Oh?" Shinichi took his phone away his ears and turned on the video call function as instructed.

When the video call finally connected, Lupin appeared on the screen, decked out in black. Black head gear, black goggles, black bandanna draped over his neck instead of the usually colourful one. He even had a black cape over him to hide his light brown fur.

"It's with the stuff that we got from Suzuki-chan! The jisan had dressed him up for the raids like this. Hey, look Shin-chan! He's wagging his tail! Bet he's remembering the fun times he had. Say hi Lupin!"

Sure enough, Lupin was wagging his tail so swiftly that Shinichi could barely see it on the grainy screen on night vision mode. Shinichi could feel his heart soar at the sight. Other than the time with the purse snatcher, Lupin hadn't wagged its tail so excitedly since.

"Alright, alright." Shinichi relented, as he disconnected the video call function and put the phone back to his ear. Better not have Kaito use the speaker function more than necessary. "You two better come back safe and sound. I won't bail you out if you guys get caught."

"Che! Thank you so much for your confidence…" Before Kaito could continue, a sharp bark drew his attention away. "Eh, Lupin? Oh! You found it already? Good boy Lupin! Got to go Shin-chan, we got some crooks to catch."

The call ended at that point, reverting the screen back to the home page.

Shinichi stared at the phone for a while before letting out a big sigh. Deciding to take things in stride, he started whistling, feeling a little more light-hearted than he should be, what with Kaito and Lupin landing themselves in potential trouble.

 _Things were starting to look up._

He headed to the kitchen with a slight bounce in his steps and started taking out a couple of bowls and pre-heating the oven, as well as gathering ingredients for a chocolate mousse and Lupin's favourite dog biscuits.

Not that he should be rewarding such bad and reckless behaviour in Kaito, but he did manage to make Lupin so happy and excited again. Shincihi wasn't going to be getting any sleep tonight anyway, since those two wouldn't be coming back any time soon. He'd rather do something productive with his hands.

Now, if only he could keep Midori away from the mascarpone cheese.

* * *

"Ahh, Kawaii!"

It was the unlikeliest of places for them to bump into one another, what with Shinichi mostly hanging around near the campus on most days. However, with Shinichi's luck at play, it was unavoidable really.

The forensics conference he'd attended at Haido City Hotel for his assignment had just ended - and as always, right on schedule, there was a murder and he had been roped in for the investigation by Megure-keibu.

And guess who discovered the body? The first two guesses don't count.

The Detective Boys - who were brought to the hotel for a dessert buffet by Agasa-hakase, were far too acquainted with forensic procedures from his time with them as Conan and were seen hovering over the body with magnifying glasses and gloves on when Shinichi arrived.

After taking their statements - and letting Shinichi have his go at investigating the body - the inspector had ushered all of them outside of the hotel so that the forensics team could - finally - do their work. They met up with Kaito, who had been waiting for Shinichi, with Lupin by his side.

And of course, the first thing they did when they, bar Haibara, sighted the familiar canine was to give it an ear rub. Lupin, being in a much better mood and state of mind nowadays, had welcomed the attention; not long after, he began to show his appreciation by wagging his tail and thumping his right hind leg vigorously.

"I was about to inquiry on Lupin's welfare, but clearly he's doing very well." A sudden comment from below his waist drew his attention away from Lupin.

"He is a lot better these days and he's really getting used to us." Shinichi concurred, crouching down so that he was able to better converse with the shrunken scientist.

Seeing as Lupin was now rolling on the floor, all but begging for a belly rub, and with the kids willing providing a helping hand, Shinchi thought it would take a while before he could speak to the kids about what they had seen. With the 'training' and 'experiences' they had received, he's rather confident they'll likely spot something that could help with the investigation.

"And I have also heard that you've been bringing him to crime scenes as your personal side-kick." Haibara said with a smirk on her face, reeling Shinichi back into the present conversation.

"Oi, oi. Where did you hear that from?" His only reply came in the form of a finger pointing at Satou-keiji and Takagi-keiji, who were also outside of the hotel, tracking down potential witnesses for the case.

 _Traitors_...

"Not on purpose. It's not my fault that they always call for me whenever we are having our walks." Shinichi tried to defend himself, though he could see it was a losing battle, as it usually was with Haibara in one of her teasing moods.

"Right..." _Yes, she's definitely in the mood._

A nudge on his leg interrupted the conversation.

"Hey Lupin, what did you find?" Shinichi took the plastic bag Lupin was holding with his mouth, and found a bloodied knife - evidence! It seemed that during his short discussion with the transfigured scientist, Lupin had wandered off from the kids and began looking for clues.

"Good job, Lupin!" scratching the scuff of his neck. "Let's get this to Megure-Keibu, ya boy?"

Lupin replied with a wagging tail and an elated bark.

Later, when Shinichi gave his deductions and cornered the murderer, the remorseless man tried to make a run for it. He had toppled the buffet table to delay the police and dashed out of the crime scene, heading straight for the hotel entrance.

After Shinichi and the rest of the police made their way around the fallen table and ran after the culprit, they were surprised to find him standing frozen right in front of the entrance, backing away before collapsing on the floor. Upon closer inspection, all of them saw Lupin standing just outside the door. His sharp fangs and a low warning growl had effectively kept the murderer in his place.

As they put the cuffs on the culprit and led him away, Megure-keibu left with a parting quip. "Good job Lupin-kun. Good day Kudo-kun, Kuroba."

"Guess I was wrong" Haibara couldn't help but commented as they watched as the police cars drove off. "The one who's the side-kick is you, Kudo-kun."

"Oi, oi." Shinichi gave the most deadpanned glare he could muster at the evil-eyed, yawny girl. Alas, it was a wasted effort, since she hadn't bothered to look up at him as she bade him goodbye.

* * *

"So have ya ordered the pizza already, Kudo?" Hattori asked as he put on the guest slippers, looking around the house and inspecting Shinichi's new accommodation. It's been a while since the Osakan had visited Tokyo.

"Yes, Hattori. One Hawaiian, one Meat Lovers, and one Margherita. All without olives and anchovies. Should be here in ten minutes." Shinichi absentmindedly recited as he knelt down in front of the shoe cabinet to retrieve more slippers for Ran, Kazuha and Sonoko, who were taking off their shoes at the doorway.

"So how's the rascal? Is he doing well?" Sonoko asked as she unlaced her boots.

"Yes, he is." Kaito replied and gestured to the living room where Lupin was seated by the sofa. At Kaito's signal, Lupin came up to them and took a sniff at each of them - before determining that they were acceptable and wandering back to his spot, where Midori was about to make a jump off the sofa to the coffee table. He caught her just in time before she crashed onto the floor as she had misjudged the distance.

"Wow. Talk about swell! Lupin's even more trained than when he was with Jirokichi-ojisama."

"Ya, we attended to a few dog obedience training sessions. He seemed to have learnt it all already, so the sessions were more for Shinichi's and my benefit. We just have to reinforce that training with Lupin." Kaito gestured them to the sofa as he placed some glasses on the coffee table.

"See! Good thing I thought of having you guys adopt little Lupin. I always have the most brilliant ideas!" Sonoko proceeded to cackle like an evil witch that Shinichi had seen while playing video games as Conan. If Shinichi hadn't known that she would have objected to being cast as such a role, he would have suspected that she was one of the voice actors in those games. _Heh heh._

By the time they settled down, the pizza had arrived, and they got on with the movie night. Surprisingly, through the rest of the night, their guests continued to be entertained by the pets' antics.

Lupin saving Midori from the dangers of the sink (again).

Lupin and Midori passing the ball to each other - which had escalated into small tumble when Midori had overshot and crashed into Lupin.

Midori giving Lupin a thorough grooming as the dog sat on his bed, clearly enjoying the treatment.

By the end of it, Shinichi couldn't keep the smile off his face as he ushered his friends out of the house. Any worries and reservations Shinichi had about the arrangement were washed away as one by one, his friends commented on how well-adjusted Lupin was - so it wasn't just his imagination that Lupin was happy with them.

* * *

It was an unfamiliar, heavy warm weight on his lap that drew Shinichi out of his slumber.

He was disoriented for a moment, an uncomfortable cramp on his neck telling him he wasn't in his bed, and he blinked his eyes a couple of times to bring it into focus.

What greeted him was the sight of Lupin, dozing with his head resting on top of his lap. Midori, now clearly overweight from mooching on Lupin's food, was snuggling asleep against Lupin's belly.

Kaito, who was asleep with his head resting on Shinichi's shoulders, had part of his thigh pinned under the lower half of Lupin's torso.

From what he remembered last night, before falling asleep on the couch while watching television, Lupin had been playing - or reluctantly entertaining - Midori with a ball of yarn on the floor.

So that meant that sometime during the night, Lupin had willingly sought them out to cuddle to sleep, with Midori in tow.

Shinichi closed his eyes and committed this new feeling of warm - _of trust and relief_ \- that was spreading throughout his body,

 _Finally, all was right in his world._

* * *

owari

Note: Midori – Green for Anne Katharine Green – considered by many to be the mother of detective novels. – The name's ambiguous enough for Kaito to go along with it – not like many people would get the reference. (Just a little detail that i couldn't fit into the fic, in case you're wondering.)

This fic is influence by the chapter where KID and Conan safe Lupin from the Iron Tanuki. And also influenced by Simon and Martina, who's the first household I see where a cat and dog co-exist so well. *hearts* Check them out on Youtube.

And mant thanks to dogfish43 from Poirot Cafe for helping me identify Lupin's breed.

Hope this fic may inspire you to consider adopting too!


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